Syria Conflict

IntroductionThe Syrian Arab Republic is an Arab country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the North, Iraq to the East, Jordan to the South, and Israel to the Southwest. In March 2011, the Syria conflict has begun due to various reasons and is still going on today. This outbreak is one of the key factors which resulted the Arab Spring (Arab Uprising). Arab Spring refers to the democratic uprisings that arose independently and spread across the Arab world in 2011. The protest originated in Tunisia in December 2010 and quickly took hold in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. In these countries, the citizens intiatied the protests as the ruling families have been keeping the power for too long (Arab Spring, 2012). In Syria, the conflict goes up to its peak as the revolution against the rule of Syria President Bashar Al-Assad’s (Mr Assad). According to the latest report of the Human Right Organization, more than 36,000 people were killed in this civil war (Khera, 2012). In this essay, the roots of the conflict will be traced and analysed using the International relation (IR) theories.

Literature Review A literature review has been conducted to investigate the causes of the conflict by applying IR theories. The traditional core of IR relates to issues concerning the development and change of sovereign statehood, in the context of the larger system or society of state. In general, there are four (4) major theoretical traditions in IR and will be covered as part of the study scope: •Realism;

•Liberalism;
•International Society; and
•International Political Economy (IPE).
RealismSeveral general realist ideas and assumptions were discussed (Jackson, 2010). These are related to different aspects such as pessimistic view of human nature; international conflicts that are ultimately resolved by war, high regard for the values of national security and state survival and basic...